“Cave Canem: A Home for Black Poetry”

“Cave Canem” will be on view at Beinecke Library from Oct. 19, 2026 through May 30, 2027.

“Cave Canem: A Home for Black Poetry” explores the formation and impact of this groundbreaking poetry collective founded by poets Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady. Recognizing a need for spaces dedicated to the development of Black poetry, Derricotte and Eady created Cave Canem (from the Latin, “beware of the dog”) in 1996, an annual summer intensive workshop for Black poets at all stages of their writing lives.

In the years since, Cave Canem has evolved into a dynamic and enduring poetry community and a force in literary arts advocacy. Drawing on archival materials and poetry from the Cave Canem Records and from the literary papers of the two founding poets, “Cave Canem: A Home for Black Poetry” features manuscripts, correspondence, photographs, books, and poems to reveal the extraordinary ways Cave Canem and its poets have changed the face of American poetry.